Originally created by a single developer, Bright Memory was released via early access. As opposed to creating a new release to accompany episode 1, Bright Memory: Infinite was created in place of an episode 2. Owning the original Bright Memory nets players Bright Memory: Infinite for free.
Despite the controversy of “stolen assets” of Bright Memory, FYQD admitted that there were stolen assets but didn’t elaborate. Instead, FYQD hired an art designer and spoke with the original rights holders. How does Bright Memory: Infinite, a hack and slash styled game, present itself now? Find out here with our Bright Memory: Infinite review.
Bright Memory: Infinite
Developer: FYQD-Studio
Publisher: Playism
Platform: Windows PC (Reviewed), Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5
Release Date: November 11, 2021 (PC), 2022 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S)
Players: 1
Price: $19.99
Bright Memory: Infinite stars Shelia, an agent from the Science Research Organization (SRO), who works to fight the supernatural. An opposing militant organization, SAI, plans to steal an ancient relic that contains massive power. In Shelia’s mission, she will fight spirits and other ancient creatures to stop SAI from unleashing the power of the dead.
Traveling through a rainy, bleak setting, Shelia journeys through ancient temples and castle in the year 2036. When doing our Bright Memory: Infinite review, I found the story elements are not complete but the full story of what they have is presented. It’s a short story of about an hour or so but with levels of replayability.
Honestly, the replayability in Bright Memory: Infinite is what helps justify the price tag of $19.99. There isn’t anything that changes for the story with just one ending which is a bit disappointing. Ultimately, it’s a good story, just a short one.
One huge accolade I found when doing our Bright Memory: Infinite review is that it is a greatly detailed game. The environments are all same-y with the same color palette and don’t have much variety. Everything is wet and dreary and that is every level that you play through.
Character models are well detailed and textured with some slight issues. Some scenes that are all in-engine don’t use much expressiveness on their faces, which is a letdown. Other issues are just consistency from being shot in a cutscene but this is only affecting alternate skins.
Graphically though, it’s not bad and also features Ray Tracing technology. Performance for even something like my gaming laptop was still able to get amazing framerates even without RTX. The games performance and graphics are great, but feels like a crutch to bigger problems.
Depending on the difficulty you play on, the game has some tight reflex responsiveness, as I found when doing our Bright Memory: Infinite review. There are a few different weapons to use that are all apart of your arsenal. Every gun has an explosive ammunition you can use; each explosive does a different effect such as a flame rounds from the AR.
Strafing is key in evasiveness, on top of the wall running and grappling. You can use your grappling ability to traverse platforms and pull enemies towards you for melee or shooting. You can chain some enemy pulling and sword slashing together for some fun gameplay.
Wielding a sword ends up being your main means of close quarters combat. Charging up your sword to release powerful attacks and abilities. Block and parry with your sword and it can stagger enemies making them vulnerable.
These core gameplay elements are the biggest strengths to the game. Getting by some obstacles will require a little thinking and changing your playstyle a little. However, most of the game can be tackled with the shotgun and occasionally the sniper.
Music in Bright Memory: Infinite is very reminiscent of most martial arts movies, which it does well. It’s a heart pounding soundtrack that compliments the gameplay and scene. Each gauntlet plays music for their engagements and ends once cleared.
Other sounds like reflecting bullets, shooting, and swords all have distinct differences. For example, sword slashing has chunkiness to it while shooting guns has a “puff” sound to it. Every other environment sound includes things like hearing leaves rustling and water sloshing when you walk.
Adjusting to the sound is normal and you may never feel like it has that much impact. I barely noticed anything about the sounds I heard and took it for what it was. It’s not bad and it can use some slight changes, but it’s serviceable.
All in all, Bright Memory: Infinite is a bit underwhelming if you’re looking for more meat on the bone. It’s a short game of an hour if you’re going through all of the levels on a moderate difficulty. With whatever strengths it has, it’s tarnished with spotty animations sometimes and dull environments.
There’s plenty if you’re looking for a quick achievement hunt and a short replayable experience in Bright Memory: Infinite. The lightning quick hack and slash nature of the game is something that works with the downside of one gun being better than the others. For the low price of $19.99 USD, it’s a good deal to play a new short game made by one person’s hands.
Anything more that comes out the experience in Bright Memory: Infinite is purely up to you mastering it. Learning stages and how to beat enemies quickly and efficiently is a rewarding experience in and of itself. Simply put, I would recommend this game but almost hesitantly.
Bright Memory: Infinite was reviewed on Windows PC using a copy provided by Playism. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Bright Memory: Infinite is now available for PC (via Steam and GOG), and has an Xbox Series X|S release coming sometime later.
